Apologies - meetings

[tell-me-more]

When people offer their apologies for meetings when they don't turn up, what are they apologising for?

[Diamondson]

Simply for not being able to attend the meeting. Good old fasioned manners.

[Diamondson]

Sorry....that should be 'fashioned'. Wish I'd learned to spell.

[JudgeJ]

They are apologising for their absence. Having been invited and perhaps having also agreed to attend, it is (or perhaps was) customary to offer your apologies if you then don't make it. Thisapplies to all engagements, not only business meetings.

[annavc]

As the others have said it is simply to apologise for their absence. I'm secretary to a few committees and have a very important meeting of one tomorrow - the Chairman is a very difficult man and all of us involved have been dreading it but I've just received an email from him offering his apologies as he can no longer make it. We've all just breathed a collective sigh of relief!

[stoo_pid]

It also lets the Chair know that they don't have to wait for anyone else to turn up. I've been secretary to a few committees in the past and there have been a disappointing number of committee members in the past that couldn't even be bothered to let you know they weren't going to make the meeting.

[Azimov]

I think I may have missed something here!
If I read the question correctly then all of the replies have been way too obvious to be the appropriate answer, assuming the question was posted correctly!

If someone sends an apology ahead of time when they think they'll be unable to make an arranged appointment, surely that's just good manners and so where's the quandary?

If they send their apologies after the meeting then surely that should be regarded as an apology for failing to meet a commitment on their part!

Sorry, but I fail to see the confusion in this question as worded!

[JudgeJ]

I don't believe there is any confusuion, Azimov!

tell-me-more wanted to be told more - it's as simple as that! We don't all know everything but most things are known by somebody somewhere. That's where AB comes in. The answers to most questions are obvious once you know them - it is getting to know them that is the tricky bit. Perhaps tell-me-more would like to let us know whether those who provided answers have interpreted the question correctly.

[Azimov]

Sorry Judge, I just think it's common sense (which isn't all that common, I grant you) or logic!
When someone apologises for not turning up to a meeting then I (not the sharpest tool in the box, I admit) would hazard a guess that they were apologising for er... not turning up for a previously arranged appointment?
They would be verbally acknowledging the fact that perhaps they may have inconvenienced someone in someway! This should be obvious to a five year old!

Anyway, the reason I stated this is because I felt that it was so obvious a reply that it couldn't possibly be the correct one
I therefore I felt that perhaps the post represented more than the question we had all been answering, and I said so!
I was hoping Tell-me-more might clarify the question so that I/we might answer more fully.
I confess I hadn't forseen your muddying the waters by asking if Tell-me-more required us to reply, not only to the question in hand but to his/her framing of the question too, all within the framework of a 17 word post!

That's a bit of stretch isn't it Judge?

[Azimov]

Incidentally, just so there's no confusion as to my meaning...
At no point did I ever suggest that Tell-me-more was stupid nor did I intimate (intentionally) that he or she was asking a dumb question.
All I meant was, I figured the question (as phrased and understood by myself and previous correspondents) surely couldn't be as simplistic as we all had perceived!
That's all!

[tell-me-more]

I understand that if you break a commitment and fail to keep a previously arranged appointment, then you should apologise.

For large, regular meetings, there�s often no commitment made to attend though, so it seems that the apology can�t be for breaking any commitment in that case.

If you can�t attend and you didn�t ever indicate that you would, what is the apology for?

I can see the value in letting people know that you�re unable to attend, so that they can start the meeting without wondering if anyone else is going to turn up late, but it seems strange to me to apologise unless you�ve done something wrong.

What have I done wrong if I'm just unable to make a meeting? I can't be in two places at once.

I'm aware that it's regarded as "common sense" and "common courtesy" but it doesn't make sense to me.

[Johnmof]

There's one more issue involved. By formally recording those who have intimated their apologies, it allows people reading the minutes to know who the full membership of the committee etc are.

[joko]

I suspect its not really an apology, it is just worded that way, as its easier than just saying bluntly ' i am not coming and I had not intention of it' or something.

The wording is just used to sound courteous and to imply that you appreciate the invite.

its also probably just a pleasantry, and opening line, a common ground with which to begin a conversation

[dancecaller]

When an organisation that you belong to has, for instance, an AGM, it is helpful if members attend. So if you can't, you are failing in your duty to the organisation, to some extent. So you apologise. This doesn't mean you have "done something wrong", you may have other duties that take precedence.

I suppose you are saying "I would have come if I could".

Then again, there are some people who never go to AGM's and they probably wouldn't send apologies (but have you noticed that they are the ones who complain about things loudest?)